Tricky Twenty Two

From Barnes and Noble…

Overview

Stephanie Plum faces her toughest case yet, as the blockbuster series from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Janet Evanovich continues, in Tricky Twenty-Two!

Inside the Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition, you'll find a guide to the strange sayings and favorite hangouts that can be found in the world of Stephanie Plum.

Something big is brewing in Trenton, N.J., and it could blow at any minute.
 
Stephanie Plum might not be the world’s greatest bounty hunter, but she knows when she’s being played. Ken Globovic (aka Gobbles), hailed as the Supreme Exalted Zookeeper of the animal house known as Zeta fraternity, has been arrested for beating up the dean of students at Kiltman College. Gobbles has missed his court date and gone into hiding. People have seen him on campus, but no one will talk. Things just aren’t adding up, and Stephanie can’t shake the feeling that something funny is going on at the college—and it’s not just Zeta fraternity pranks.
 
As much as people love Gobbles, they hate Doug Linken. When Linken is gunned down in his backyard it’s good riddance, and the list of possible murder suspects is long. The only people who care about finding Linken’s killer are Trenton cop Joe Morelli, who has been assigned the case, security expert Ranger, who was hired to protect Linken, and Stephanie, who has her eye on a cash prize and hopefully has some tricks up her sleeve.

Not too bad considering it's #22…but really, just end it!

Everything I Never Told You

From Publisher's Weekly..

This emotionally involving debut novel explores themes of belonging using the story of the death of a teenage girl, Lydia, from a mixed-race family in 1970s Ohio. Lydia is the middle and favorite child of Marilyn Walker, a white Virginian, and James Lee, a first-generation Chinese-American. Marilyn and James meet in 1957, when she is a premed at Radcliffe and he, a graduate student, is teaching one of her classes. The two fall in love and marry, over the objections of Marilyn’s mother, whose comment on their interracial relationship is succinct: “It’s not right.” Marilyn gets pregnant and gives up her dream of becoming a doctor, devoting her life instead to raising Lydia and the couple’s other two children, Nathan and Hannah. Then Marilyn abruptly moves out of their suburban Ohio home to go back to school, only to return before long. When Lydia is discovered dead in a nearby lake, the family begins to fall apart. As the police try to decipher the mystery of Lydia’s death, her family realize that they didn’t know her at all. Lydia is remarkably imagined, her unhappy teenage life crafted without an ounce of cliché. Ng’s prose is precise and sensitive, her characters richly drawn.Agent: Julie Barer, Barer Literary. (July)

Excellent!

Lock & Mori

From Publisher's Weekly…

Petty debuts with a suspenseful, sure-footed mystery, set in present-day London and starring a teenage Holmes and Moriarty. The narrator, James "Mori" Moriarty, meets the absent-minded, egotistical, and truth-obsessed "Lock" at school. They are both curious, analytical observers, so when they learn of a bizarre murder, in which a man is found stabbed with his hands in his pockets, they decide to investigate. The teens are both unmoored: Lock's mother is ill, and Mori's father has been abusing Mori and her brothers ever since their mother died six months ago. Lock and Mori initially promise to keep no secrets from each other, but when Mori suspects her mother may have been involved with this and other murders, she withholds information, putting both teens in harm's way. The chemistry between the protagonists is at the heart of the story, and their sparring relationship predictably, but enjoyably, develops into romance. While some readers may guess the killer's identity early on, this is still a quick-moving mystery distinguished by clear writing, memorable imagery, and some keen insights into human fragility. Ages 14–up. 

I thought this was just ok, a little mature for middle school.  

Lucy Long Ago

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 5-10–The Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was playing the night paleoanthropologist Donald Johnson found the first fossilized remains of the hominid that became known around the world as Lucy. This extraordinary discovery changed how scientists understood one of the basic concepts of human evolution–it proved that our ancestors began walking upright before the size of their brains increased. Thimmesh uses this discovery to explore several topics in the fields of anthropology and evolutional biology, such as how the bones were fossilized, the process for deciding that Lucy belonged to a previously unknown species (Australopithecus afarensis), and the cast-making process that allowed biological anthropologist Owen Lovejoy to reconstruct her pelvis and prove that she was bipedal. The author even touches upon what fossils can't teach us about our ancestors–their emotions and family patterns. The final chapter discusses the process used by paleoartist John Gurche to create a life-size sculpture of Lucy. The book's greatest strength is how it underscores the fluidity of our understanding in a field like anthropology; it shows how one discovery can change the thinking of scientists in a dramatic way. This book also emphasizes the rigor of the sciences that study our human ancestors and explains clearly how these scientists carefully take the known to formulate new ideas about the unknown parts of our human history. The clear writing, excellent photographs, and the unique approach of exploring the field of anthropology through one spectacular specimen make this book a first purchase.–Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA 

Excellent!

Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled

From GoodReads..

No human being has ever seen a triceratops or velociraptor or even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. They left behind only their impressive bones. So how can scientists know what color dinosaurs were? Or if their flesh was scaly or feathered? Could that fierce T.rex have been born with spots? In a first for young readers, the Sibert medalist Catherine Thimmesh introduces the incredible talents of the paleoartist, whose work reanimates gone-but-never-forgotten dinosaurs in giant full-color paintings that are as strikingly beautiful as they aim to be scientifically accurate, down to the smallest detail. Follow a paleoartist through the scientific process of ascertaining the appearance of various dinosaurs from millions of years ago to learn how science, art, and imagination combine to bring us face-to-face with the past.

A book from the LBJ library that I added to the collection.  Very interesting! 

The Seventh Most Important Thing

From School Library Journa…

Gr 4–7—A middle school student learns the meaning of redemption in this excellent coming-of-age story. For the rest of the country, it was the year President Kennedy was assassinated. For Arthur Owens, it would always be the year his Dad died. Arthur is struggling to adapt. When he sees his Dad's hat being worn by the neighborhood "Junk Man," it is just too much. Arthur isn't a bad kid, but he picks up that brick and throws it just the same. The judge pronounces a "highly unconventional sentence." At the behest of the victim James Hampton, the "Junk Man," Arthur must spend every weekend of his community service helping to complete Hampton's artistic masterpiece. Inspired by real life artist James Hampton's life and work, "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly," the plot avoids overt religious tones and sticks with the exploration of friendship, love, and life's most important lessons. From the "Junk Man's" neighbor, Groovy Jim, to no-nonsense Probation Officer Billie to Arthur's new best pal Squeak, and even his family, Pearsall has struck just the right tone by imbuing her well-rounded, interesting characters with authentic voices and pacing the action perfectly. Give this to fans of Wendy Mass's Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life (Little, Brown, 2006) and Gennifer Choldenko's Al Capone Does My Shirts (Penguin, 2004). Reluctant readers may be intimidated by the page count, but a booktalk or read-aloud with this title should change their minds. VERDICT A recommended purchase for all libraries.—Cindy Wall, Southington Library & Museum, CT

Excellent!